Bullet Point Catch Up

• Went to New Orleans on a mission trip. Awesome!
• Came home to see Tom still slaving on our remodeling.
• Tom is laying tiles; I'm washing thin-set from said tiles.
• I've realized that what we're doing right now is just one very small piece of the remodeling puzzle.
• I'm overwhelmed.

Pictures and more blog when I have time . . . . maybe in 5 months?

The Dust Bowl Continues....... And I Still Hate Squirrels!

I'm posting pictures of the little girls.  Not much commentary b/c I'm busy as a bee.

G.G.'s & Papa cutting up

Birthday boy Adger doing his famous Elvis impression

Brie's sweet little face

Cady's sweet little face

Little girls playing in Cady's kitchen

Tom is working himself silly these days in my house.  I feel kinda guilty that he gets up tired and goes to bed exhausted.  But the end result will be so great.. . . whenever that day comes....

Dust is rampant in my house right now.

Don't ya love the fan in the window on a January day?

Tom is working hard on removing the old flooring.

Have I mentioned lately how much I HATE squirrels???

Squirrels have eaten away the leg of an antique chair in my garage.

Look what squirrels did to our brand new hose!

Our squirrels are NUTS, I tell ya, NUTS!  Speaking of nuts, why don't our squirrels eat nuts instead of our personal property????

Cartoons To Laugh At

2009 was definitely a trying year, at least financially.  Tom's still not back to work at D & Z, but he's hard at work at home.  In today's newspaper, I found two cartoons that are a hoot.  I showed them to Tom and he just chuckled.  You gotta make fun of the 2009 economy - what else are ya gonna do? Getting all depressed gets you nowhere, so I say, take the high road and laugh your way into 2010 & hope for the best.  Hope these cartoons bring a smile to your face.

Welcome To The Demolition Dust Bowl. . . The Saga Continues . . .

In very general terms, I love noise.  I beg Tom to mow the lawn, use the leaf blower or vacuum the house because those noises lull me to sleep.  Literally, when I hear one of those noises, my eyes begin to droop and I find the nearest sofa.  However, I have found some noises that have an adverse affect on me:

Hammering, sawing, and my least favorite - air compressor.

Holy Cow!  It's a mad house around here.  That air compressor is enough to deafen me.  But I'm trying to accept all of this during the process. . . the very long, long process of renovation.

Tom & Little Man are hard at work today.  They had to "shore up" the wall because it's a partial load-bearing wall.  (I'm learning new terms!) 

Always known for posting flattering pictures of myself, here is a good one:

I'm dreading having to wear this indefinitely.  My sinuses are already going nuts on me!  A few minutes ago, they were sawing in the breakfast room and there was enough saw dust flying around that it looked like a huge dust storm.  Tom & Little Man were barely visible.  I'll have LOTS of cleaning to do.  Yuck.

Jane, My Non-Facebook Sister, This Post Is For You!!!

Catching up.

Tom & I recently visited friends who just bought a mountain cabin.  From their front porch, you can clearly see Ghost Town In The Sky.

When we woke up the next morning, it had snowed in Ghost Town.

The backyard of the cabin still had snow from the previous week.

Tom & I kept both little grandgirls overnight recently.  This must be what it's like to have twins.  It was so much fun and so busy!

Food Service was provided in the den while we watched college football bowl games.

Cady, reading to herself.

Brie got the crib, so Cady shared a mat with me on the den floor.  When she finally fell asleep, she didn't move all night long.

Remember in January 2009 when Tom said, upon completion of our kitchen renovation, that he wasn't tackling any project (big or small) for one year?  Well,  Tommy Boy, it's been a year.

January 4, 2010, the Rucker Demolition Dust Bowl begins!!!

Tom began on the wall that separates our breakfast room and our den.

We're also taking down the walls on either side of the fireplace.  When I returned from a morning out, Tom had already removed the built-in desk and shelves.

By nightfall, he'd partially removed this wall.  Yippee!  I'm excited.  Of course, upon further accessment of this project, we now see the need for new flooring.  Oops. . . . ya think maybe this was my ulterior motive??  No, honestly, we need more room when the family gets together.  My house is the hub for not only my immediate family, but for my sister & brothers & sister-in-laws.  At Christmas we were packed in the den like sardines.

After considering the cost of adding on, we decided to knock down a few walls and open up this place.  I believe it will make a huge difference when we're finished . . . which is another thing.  With Tom doing most of the work, we may be looking at a completion date of January 2011!!!!  Patience, dear Joy, patience.